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In a recent study, a research team was able to define the most naturally variable protein, TvpA, in a bacterium. This protein is a main component of dental plaque.

The research team included chemists from UC San Diego. The team spoke about their new discovery in the latest online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers say that the huge variability of the protein they identified in the bacterium Treponema denticola was evolving to become connected to various types of bacteria living in the oral cavity.

The recently identified protein was called “Treponema variable protein (TvpA)” The later is a million to a billion times more variable than the other known natural system for massive protein variation, which is the vertebrate immune system. “In Treponema denticola, we found a protein we call TvpA, that varies considerably more than proteins of the immune system and, to our knowledge, this protein is the most variable natural protein described to date.” said Partho Ghosh, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego, a lead author of the study.

Professor Ghosh continued “We don't know what it does in this bacterium, but our hypothesis is that it enables it to adhere to the biofilm, commonly known as dental plaque, that exists in people's mouths.”